


...Or Forever Hold Your Peace

by Corinna



Category: Glee
Genre: Gossip, Hummelberry, M/M, NYADA, Tumblr Prompt, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-05
Updated: 2014-02-05
Packaged: 2018-01-11 07:15:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1170205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Corinna/pseuds/Corinna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Idoltina prompted: <i>"Oh god, you know what I need that I haven’t seen yet? I need fic of Kurt going back to NYADA after getting engaged and people don’t know that he’s gay and they see his ring and assume that he’s married to Rachel."</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	...Or Forever Hold Your Peace

**Author's Note:**

> With thanks to pene for the encouragement and the title

Kurt goes back to New York with a spring in his step and Blaine’s ring on his finger. It’s perfection. He plays with the ring, reveling in its weight. He holds out his hand like a model, like a diva, like Beyoncé, just to see it catch the light. Santana tells him he’s revolting but he doesn’t care in the slightest, because now he has Blaine back for good, and the ring is his proof. He feels like singing every time he thinks about it.

He’s waiting in the hall before class when one of his classmates catches him admiring it. “Made it official, huh?”

Kurt looks up. It’s Josh, the closest thing to a dude-bro he’s met here. He hasn’t told Josh anything about his personal life. But it’s like Blaine always says about marriage equality: it makes them visible. Even a guy like Josh can see it, now that it’s on his left hand. “Yeah,” he says, and he can’t help grinning.

Josh shakes his head and smiles. “Congrats, man. Better you than me.”

The classroom door opens, and in the flood of people going in and out, Kurt never gets a chance to ask Josh what he meant. He can’t somehow know Blaine, can he? That would be too improbable even for Kurt’s crazy life. More likely, he’s one of those people who just aren’t interested in monogamy. He’s not going to ask Josh to explain, not if it means a Puck-style lecture on not getting tied down.

* * * * *

Sheila spots him in the coffee shop. He thought he was being subtle, studying the way the ring contrasts with the dark brown of his latte mug, but maybe not. “Wow. That’s sudden.” She nods at his left hand as she slips into the seat across from him.

“Not really.” He knows he’s getting that goofy grin again, but he can’t help it. “I mean, when you know you’ve found your soulmate, why wait? We’ve had our difficulties this year, we’ve fought, we dated other people, but I guess I always knew we’d end up back together.”

“Wow,” she says again. “I had no idea. I mean, you and Adam…”

“Oh, me and Adam.” It’s uncomfortable to think about. “Adam — I guess you could call it an experiment? A chance to try something different. But in the end I had it right the first time.” He thinks of the stairway at Dalton, and joy bubbles back up inside him.

“Huh.” She looks thoughtful. “I guess… I guess I wish you every happiness, Kurt. I hope this works out for you.”

* * * * *

Looking back, he thinks maybe he noticed the whispers and the side-eye glances that started following him around NYADA that week. But then again, maybe not. His head was full of Blaine: the outfit selfies each morning, the texts between classes, the long talks every night over Skype. Happiness kept him too busy to think about other people. And life at McKinley had long ago inured him to the effects of being stared at. So he has every reason not to notice the gossip and the staring, though he’s happy to accept the occasional, oddly puzzled-sounding, congratulations.

It takes Katie Bernbach to clue him in — Katie, who he met during the mid-year orientation meeting, and has somehow stayed friendly with despite not having any classes with her. Katie’s on the tech track, and she doesn’t give a damn about fashion, but she loves theater and gossip, so they get along fine.

“My man Hummel!” she exclaims when she sees him in the second floor main hallway. “Is it true?”

He racks his brain for what she could mean: it was a slow news day on TMZ, but maybe…

Katie grabs his left hand. “Oh my God,” she shrieks. “It is! Oh my God,  _really_ _?_ ”

He maybe preens a little bit.  

“Kurt,” she says, her voice going low and confidential, “it’s not that I’m not happy for you, but are you sure?”

“Yes,” he says, and he means it completely.

“I only ask because… I mean, we never discussed it, but I always thought you were gay.”

“Huh?” It’s such a non-sequitur he can’t even process it.

“I mean, if you’re not, like, I don’t mean to undermine you and your relationship, not at all.”

“What?” He’s getting a headache trying to make sense of this discussion. “Are you saying that gay people can’t get married? Because it’s been legal in New York since 2010, Katie, so either you’ve become some homophobic weirdo overnight or you’re sadly misinformed.”

“So,” she says slowly, like she’s testing every word, “you’re  _not_  married to Rachel Berry?”

He can only stare at her in shock.

“Because that’s the story that’s going around, Kurt.”

“Wh —” He’s starting to regain feeling in his limbs, and he can kind of make words make sense. “What are you talking about?”

She sighs. “Word on the street is that after Rachel got the part in  _Funny Girl_ , you and she ran down to City Hall and got hitched. I’ve heard people say you did it for her Equity insurance, but I’ve also heard people insist that it’s true love.”

He feels sick. This is a nightmare. A nightmare wrapped in a disaster and covered in horror-sauce. “I… I…  _no!_  Katie, how could you even think that? I’ve been out since I was fifteen. I’m engaged to a man — a wonderful man, and all man, believe me.” He’s getting distracted by thoughts of Blaine again, so he shakes his head to clear it. “Rachel may very well someday end up married to a closet case, but it won’t be me. I love her like a sister, not a — ugh — girlfriend.”

“We don’t actually have cooties, you know.” Katie rolls her eyes. “That’s a relief. I was worried about you for a minute there.”

Kurt’s still baffled that she could have believed it for even a second. “Look, you have to tell people it isn’t true.”

“I will. But you know how it is when people get an idea stuck in their head, Kurt. Good luck with getting them to change it.”

* * * * * 

Blaine is so, so happy, and why shouldn’t he be? He’s in New York, he’s with Kurt, and he just sang his heart out at his NYADA audition. Whatever happens next, he knows he did his best — and more important, he knows nothing will get in the way of his and Kurt’s love ever again.

Kurt is so wonderful: Blaine had wanted to face the audition alone, without distractions, but afterwards Kurt is waiting right outside the auditorium with a bouquet of roses. He walks with Blaine through the crowded hallways out towards the front door, his arm wrapped possessively around Blaine’s arm, and he’s introducing him to all sorts of people as they go.

“Have you met my fiancé, Blaine? He’ll be coming here next year…. Oh, Blaine, you need to meet Hilary! Hilary, this is Blaine. We’re engaged…. Darling, I want to introduce you to my fiancé!” Every time Kurt does this, every time he says _engaged_  or  _fiancé_ , there’s a fierce flare of happiness that shoots straight through Blaine, right down to his toes. By the time they’re in the building’s main lobby, he’s pretty much speechless with joy.

“Hm,” Kurt says. “Right here, I think.” And before Blaine can ask what he means, Kurt has taken him in his arms and is kissing him, in front of everyone, all the students and teachers and the whole crowd passing by. Blaine puts his hands on Kurt’s arms, pulling him closer, and kisses him back.

“That should do it,” Kurt says when they separate again. He runs his hand down Blaine’s back, and Blaine can feel the remaining tension from his audition melting away.

“Do what?” he asks.

Kurt smiles and kisses him again, a playful peck on the cheek. “Oh, you’re not going to believe me when I tell you, sweetheart. But let’s go home and talk about it there, okay?”

There are a bunch of NYADA students watching them as they leave, and Blaine holds Kurt’s hand tighter when he notices. He wants everyone to know that he is Kurt’s and Kurt is his, now and forever, and if Kurt wants to tell people that by kissing him silly — well. Blaine has no objection to that. None at all.

 

 

 

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Grist for the (Rumor) Mill](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2525933) by [AncientGleek](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AncientGleek/pseuds/AncientGleek)




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